The Southeastern Conference is home to some of the biggest rivalries in sports, stemming from universities that revolve around their sports culture and talent.
The most recent additions to the conference, in 2024, are the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns. Before then, there hadn’t been any schools added for 12 years.
Upon the additions, critics discussed what these schools would bring to the conference and how they would match up against the talent in the SEC.
But Oklahoma and Texas have proved those doubts wrong. Making their mark in multiple national championship titles and post-season appearances over the past two years.
This mark, however, is coming a little too close to the LSU Tigers.
For starters, LSU and Oklahoma gymnastics have been battling for the national championship title for the past four seasons. This season alone, LSU sat just behind the Sooners all season long at No. 2, losing to them twice this season.
This weekend, the two will meet again at the SEC championships in Tulsa, along with six other teams from the top eight.
Both programs, as measured in their success, are dynasties in college gymnastics. Their mid-season matchups are highlighted as the Super Bowl of NCAA Gymnastics. The first time they met this season, both teams scored a 197.500. In the most recent matchup, Oklahoma defeated the Tigers by two-tenths of a point.
Each of these teams is precise and full of talent, drawing attention in school spirit form and from national audiences. Their matchup has quickly turned into a rivalry of the best versus the best.
But it doesn’t stop with gymnastics.
Over on the women’s basketball court, LSU faced Oklahoma in its first game of the SEC tournament. The No. 6 Tigers swept the No. 7 Sooners in a 112-78 quarterfinal. Oklahoma might not have been their biggest threat for that matchup, but those rankings weren’t just from in the conference. The Sooners have been closely following LSU in the polls all season long, starting in the preseason, where OU was No. 6 and LSU was No. 5.
Once again, it doesn’t stop there.
The Sooners’ biggest rivals, the Longhorns, have also hung out around LSU in the polls this season, but this time in front of them. The Tigers’ biggest upset of the year was against Texas in early January, beating the then-No. 2 team 70-65. In the following matchup, Texas took the win in a 64-77 retaliation when LSU was No. 5 and the Longhorns were No. 4.
With Texas being named the SEC champions, the Tigers have a new obstacle in their way of a national championship this March. LSU and Texas are on the same side of the NCAA Women’s Tournament bracket, meaning if both teams advance, a Final Four rematch would decide who makes the championship game.
Speaking of obstacles in the way of a Tigers’ national championship, Texas baseball has been sitting comfortably at No. 3, while LSU was No. 2 all season long, with Oklahoma at No. 21. This week’s polls showed the Longhorns sitting in the No. 2 spot, while LSU was dropped out entirely.
While the teams aren’t scheduled to meet in the regular season, the chance of a SEC championship matchup is high, with those two, along with Mississippi State, being at the top of the rankings consistently. If not there, then NCAA regionals, super regionals or the College World Series could definitely bring the Longhorns and Tigers into the same ballpark.
LSU will host the Sooners over the weekend for their first at-home conference series. Beyond the rankings, the matchup could still bring an upset to Alex Box with the talent in each program.
As for football, the rivalry isn’t as relevant. Only because it hasn’t had its full potential to turn into one.
The Sooners and Tigers have played both seasons that Oklahoma has been in the conference. In 2024, the Tigers hosted the Sooners, coming out victorious in a 37-17 late-season game. The same week in the 2025 season, the Tigers traveled to Norman and were defeated 13-17.
College football is known for its home-field advantage, which could justify the loss on the road and the win at home for each team. Or, it could be the talent in each program. Two talented teams, in the same conference, meeting each season with different results each time? That’s textbook college football rivalry.
And it could get started for Texas and LSU this season, too. The Tigers will host the Longhorns in November for a matchup that fans haven’t seen since 2019. The Longhorns made it to the college football semifinal in their first year in the SEC and defeated the defending national champions 41-27 in a bowl game last season.
From their coaching staff to their young quarterback, Arch Manning, their football program is deeply talented.
These two additions have given the opportunity to prove themselves in the SEC. And they did. But as an LSU fan, that’s clearly not something to celebrate, but something to fear.
